This time we focus on buildin’ a narrow (6” wide) springer set, stop for a
second to celebrate, and get started – for real this time – on a set of
stainless steel handlebars.

Now that we’ve got the vintage top trees with ears in place (see Chapter IV), I
had to get the flow of the bike by having some forks to look at. I wanted the
old school look of the stepped-down tubing going into the trees. We got this
started by heat fitting a 1” solid slug into some 1.25” DOM tubing. It just so
happens that the i.d. of 1.25” tubing is a 5-10 thousands smaller than the o.d.
of 1” solid rod. So, once heat fit, you more or less have a permanent joint.

This will, of course, also get welded, but you start with a dog-sled load of
confidence in your fit-up and get automatic parallel alignment. The 1” plugs get
thrown in the shop fridge’s freezer compartment…
…while the DOM gets this treatment from the chopper builder’s best friend (the
oxy-acetylene torch).
In order to get the slug to stop right where we want it, I put a set-screw
collar on it at the proper depth before I slide it in. This is also nice because
it holds things where you want ‘em while the 1,000+ degrees steel tubing cools
down.
At the other end of the tubing (already filled solid), we need to drill holes
for the rocker studs and bronze, oil-lite type bushings (available on the site –
as usual).